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(wm) The name of Bill Gross is well-known throughout the world of philately. As co-founder of the Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) and thanks to his success with this company until 2014 as an investment broker, Gross managed to gather assets with a value of a billion dollars. Wall Street called him the ‘Bond King’, whilst philatelists were aware of the fact that over a period of many decades he accumulated many valuable collections. Some of these collections were already auctioned in the past, and a part of the proceeds - ten million dollars to be precise – went to the National Post Museum, to enable this institution to create the William G. Gross Stamp Gallery in Washington.Scott Trepel, president of Siegel Auctions, recently announced that Bill Gross’ unique US collections will be auctioned later this year. In fact, there will be several auctions. More information can be found on Siegel’s website (siegelauctions.com). Trepel estimates that the about 150 philatelic rarities will yield something in the order of 9.1 million dollars. The auctioneer wants to break a record, namely that of the highest selling 1-day auction. At the moment, Trepel already holds this record since 2007, when he auctioned the Great Britain Collection of Bill Gross.

(wm) Especially among journalists writing about specialised topics from Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the magazine ‘Post & Geschichte Magazin’ (‘Post and History Magazine’) has a good reputation. It is perfectly made and designed publication and its Editor, Christian Geissmann, always succeeds tot find new, interesting and varied topics to write about. It proves that even a small country can leave a big mark on postal history – which is the case with ‘Post & Geschichte Magazine’).The main topics of the latest issue of the magazine (December 2018) have the following titles: "The autumn manoeuvers of the III. Army Corps from 3 to 19 September 1900"; "The censorship of Swiss Post in South Africa during the Second World War" and “The launching of the Focke Wulf FW 200 Condor Friesland on 29.11.1944 and the adventurous journey of a postcard from Switzerland to Algeria". Remarkable are not only the presented documents, but also the numerous contemporary historical photos, which Geissmann cleverly fits into the articles written by him. The 48-page brochure in DIN A5 format costs 18 Sfr. and is available from Post und Geschichte GmbH, Postfach 56, CH-5612 Villmergen/Switzerland. Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Delcampe collectibles purchase and sale website is on a roll. FeWeb just awarded the website its Excellence Award Silver in the e-Commerce category and the French magazine Capital awarded its ”Palmarès Capital” award for the best quality of service for a company selling used items online. Two very nice awards for this international company.With over 17 years of experience in its market, the Delcampe website (wwww.delcampe.net) now has over 1.2 million members. Hundreds of thousands of transactions are completed on the website every month. Delcampe holds leading positions in the categories stamps, coins and postcards. Apart from that, it alsohosts many other kinds of collections; they will be expanded in the near future. The company’s goal is to be the leader in collectibles buying and selling.For Delcampe members there are two considerable assets, the first one being the fact that the firm wishes to remain in a niche of truly passionate collectors: Delcampe’s approach is based on collection items. The second asset is Delcampe’s Customer Service Department that helps to find personalized solutions for any problem that member might encounter. This personalized service has enabled Delcampe to become a preferred website of collectors around the world.2018 will be a challenging year for the firm, which will launch its own secure payment method on the website called Delcampe Pay.Sébastien Delcampe, company CEO of Delcampe comments as follows: “I would like give my sincere thanks to the people who selected Delcampe as their favourite partner for the purchase and sale of their collection items. The awards that we received mean a great deal to us. They ensure that we will do our utmost to maintain and improve the quality of our services.”

(rvs) At a gala dinner in the Yacht Club of Monte-Carlo during MonacoPhil 2017, the European Academy for Philately (AEP) for the second time bestowed the Prize of the European Parliament. After the eulogy by the Belgian Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter De Crem, it was Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi, parting President of the AEP who handed the distinction to his highness S.A.S. Prince Albert II of Monaco, together with a cheque in favour of the foundation bearing his name created by the sovereign in June 2006. It concentrates on environmental protection, sustainable development, climate change and the promotion of renewable energies as well as biodiversity. It also supports projects which develop water resource management or desertification control technologies.

Photo: Prince Albert II of Monaco receiving the prize of the European Parliament from the parting President of the European Academy of Philately (AEP) Bruno Crevato-Selvaggi, in the presence of the Belgian Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pieter De Crem.

(wm) For the fifth time in succession the well-known CG-Awards of the German auction house Christoph Gärtner were handed over to the winners during the opening day of the MonacoPhil event. It concerned ten prizes that were awarded to study groups and associations from all over the world, for publications of these clubs, like magazines and books. This time, there were two special prizes: one for ‘Digital Literature’ and one for ‘Youth’. The exhibits were assessed by a number of well-known jurors, such as Richard Johnson (South Africa), Patrick Maselis (Belgium) and Rainer von Scharpen (Germany). Each juror entered his votes in a computer, which then calculated the respective final score.The winner of the main group was once again the Collectors Club of Chicago (USA) that received a prize € 2,000 for its publication "U.S. Contract Mail Routes by Railroad (1832-1875).” The second place was for the German thematic club ‘Motivgruppe Musik’. The study group ‘ArGe Krone/Adler’, also from Germany, captured the third place.The special prize for digitally produced literature went to "PHILA HISTORICA", a free digital periodical about philatelic history and philatelic literature, edited by Wolfgang Maassen. The magazine can be downloaded free of charge on the Internet (www.philahistorica.de). The decision was very close: the Italian publication ‘Vaccari News’ was only half a point behind the winner. In the category ‘Youth’ the prize went to the German stamp collectors association ‘Meininger Briefmarkensammlerverein‘.

Expectant faces among the visitors of the CG-Awards presentation in the ‘Top Car Museum’ of Prince Albert II in Monaco. Photo: Wolfgang Maassen